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Friday, May 04, 2007

Delta Democrat Times Online: Local News: "On May 4 and 5 the West Delta Chapter of the American Red Cross will present its 23rd annual dinner theater, “Movie Magic,” using local talent to perform songs made popular in movies from the past fifty-odd years. When a regional vice president for the national office of Red Cross saw the production two years ago, he was very impressed with the talent and with the uniqueness of the fundraising effort by the local chapter. He stated this was the only chapter in the United States to use this method for its fundraising campaign."

Rush Harding to receive UCA Distinguished Alumnus Award - UCA Today: "In 2006, Harding and his wife were named Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year by the Arkansas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The couple is also co-chairing UCA's first major, comprehensive fundraising campaign, which coincides with the university's centennial anniversary."

New York Dinner Benefits Britain's Tate Museum - May 4, 2007 - The New York Sun: "On Tuesday evening, while part of the New York art world is uptown bidding at Sotheby's, another part will be gathered at the Riverfront Pavilion Midtown on the West Side, spending their money on a more charitable cause. The event is a $50,000-a-table gala honoring contemporary American artists, and the guests will include many major New York arts patrons, including the chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art and several prominent board members of the Museum of Modern Art.

But the beneficiary of Tuesday night's high-rolling event isn't a New York institution. It's Britain's Tate museum."

Thursday, May 03, 2007

The gift to the Seattle Art Museum from 53 collectors is one of the largest in the history of institutional donations

By Jason Edward Kaufman | Posted 03 May 2007

NEW YORK. The Seattle Art Museum has received more than 1,000 works of art from 53 donors as part of an acquisition campaign to celebrate its 75th anniversary next year. The donations represent one of the largest gifts to a museum in the history of US philanthropy."

Creative Capital is a private-sector response to such messiness. Bringing venture philanthropy to the arts, it has funded 242 projects with grants of up to $50,000 since 1999. But its approach is about more than money. 'We look for people open to changing how they market themselves,' says executive director Ruby Lerner."

Capacity building seemed to be the “buzzword” of the early 21st century. Books and book chapters were written about this concept, workshops were requested and conducted, articles were published, and foundations were openly urged to do more for nonprofit capacity building."

But the hard knocks continue more than two years after the former president, Leonard F. Pickell Jr., and later the entire board of directors, resigned. While it is being run more professionally and openly, the organization is in worse shape financially. And questions about its mission that were raised by the scandal have not all been resolved."

With the stock market booming an the super-rich getting even richer, charitable organizations are already seeing a wave of new money. The trend was already apparent before Warren Buffet pledged 85% of his $44 billion fortune to charitable foundations - the bulk of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

While it is difficult to capture a completely accurate picture of charitable giving in the U.S., some of the segments commonly used by the wealthiest individuals such as donor-advised funds and private foundations are seeing an influx of new contributors.."

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Millionaires Increased Charitable Donations in 2006, but Interest Appears Waning, Says Northern Trust: "CHICAGO, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Millionaire households increased their charitable donations by more than 20 percent in 2006 over the previous year, but donations in 2007 are expected to be lower. Due in part to current charitable giving levels, the uncertainty regarding estate tax laws, and family care obligations, affluent families attach less importance to making charitable donations, fewer say they want to be personally involved in their charities and fewer plan to increase their contributions this year, according to Wealth in America 2007,"

Tonight in Seattle, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will recognize five nonprofits for their innovation and leadership in promoting social change. These five organizations, awarded the Foundation’s prestigious National Leadership in Action Award, are being honored for their work in communities of color."

New members can quickly get up to speed with organizational planning and strategies. Members can access critical resources at any time of day or night, or discuss topics together online without regard to location or time zones. Having a password-protected and secure area set aside specifically for your board can overcome many of the operational challenges inherent to nonprofit management."

The Wealth Report - WSJ.com : Britain's Foreign Rich: "Two months ago, I did some reporting on the wealth boom in Britain for the U.K. version of Richistan. (The difference between the two covers amuses me — look here for the U.S. version and here for the U.K. version. No, I didn’t get to sail on the yacht.)

British flagWhat I found most interesting about the U.K. wealth boom was it’s “foreign-ness.” While the newly minted millionaires and billionaires in the U.S. are largely homegrown — meaning most made their fortunes in the U.S. — many of the big rich in Britain are from other countries and made their money elsewhere. They are Russian oligarchs, Indian industrialists and Saudi sheikhs."

Several authors of blogs about philanthropy have been given credentials to cover this week’s Council on Foundations conference in Seattle, marking the first time the council has opened its doors to blog writers.

And many of the the bloggers at the meeting have been diligent about offering regular reports on conference sessions."

200 Arizona nonprofits unite | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®: "200 Arizona nonprofits uniteAlliance provides members with training, advocacyThe Arizona RepublicNearly 200 organizations have joined forces to boost the state's growing nonprofit sector.The organizations are looking to the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, a statewide advocacy group based in Phoenix, to strengthen their own operations, raise the profile of the work they do in communities and get a seat at the table with influential decision-makers."

University of Arkansas - Daily Headlines: "The University of Arkansas Women's Giving Circle voted to award $69,575 in grants to support five new initiatives that will focus on important issues on and off campus. The awards were presented April 13."

Helen and her late husband, Wal-Mart founder Sam, always appeared to be heading toward large-scale donations. But when Sam died in 1992, most of his money passed to Helen. And though she increased her giving to an extent, the Waltons remained - as critics have noted - a relatively small force in philanthropy."

Friends of Casco Bay, Coastal Enterprises Inc. and Schoodic Arts for AllTake First, Second and Third Place

Maine Association of Nonprofits (MANP), a statewide membership organization committed to strengthening the capacity of Maine’s nonprofit sector, announced the winners of the first-ever Maine Awards for Nonprofit Excellence at its annual meeting in Portland on April 27.Portland-based Friends of Casco Bay, Wiscasset-based Coastal Enterprises Inc., and Winter Harbor-based Schoodic Arts for All were recipients of the first, second and third cash awards of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively. Bangor-based Eastern Area Agency on Aging, Portland based Winter Kids and the Portland Symphony received Honorable Mentions. In addition to cash awards, the winners received hand-carved awards created by Burnham woodworker James Macdonald of the nonprofit Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport."

The arts portion of the overall philanthropy pot has been eroding for 15 years, although the actual dollar amounts of giving to the arts sector has not dropped in that period, says Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts in Washington."

The Shreveport Times: "In honor of the ground breaking of the Dr. Lacy and Edie Williams Circle of Excellence Plaza on the LSUS campus, attendees took part in a unique photo opportunity to display the 245-foot perimeter of the plaza site.

The ground breaking was April 12 on the campus mall between the Administration building and the Noel Memorial Library.

A painted white circle on the LSUS grounds marks where the plaza will be constructed this summer. In a symbol of unity, donors, faculty, students and friends stood on the painted circle for a photo taken from above."

Good intentions never fed anyone, provided a mosquito net, brought water to a village or fought a disease. Doing good in the world is a purposeful enterprise requiring skills, leadership and lots of money.

All will be celebrated and nurtured as the Council on Foundations holds its 58th annual conference today through Tuesday at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The event is co-sponsored by Philanthropy Northwest. Seattle is proud to welcome more than 2,000 representatives from philanthropic organizations around the world, the people who raise and distribute billions of dollars."

Lance ArmstrongCycling star Lance Armstrong, celebrated the 10th anniversary of his charity The Lance Armstrong Foundation on Friday with a fundraising barbecue at his Austin, Texas home. Cancer survivor Armstrong was joined by friends including Lyle Lovett and actor Matthew McConaughey at the event, which raised around $1 million for the charity.

The sportsman joined Lovett, who performed at the party, onstage for two songs."

Winona Daily News - 6.0: "Donor-advised funds are an important service provided by a community foundation as they allow donors to make their charitable gifts into a named fund with the foundation. Over time, they make grant recommendations from the fund to qualified nonprofit organizations that are then approved by the foundation’s board.

In fact, 34 members of Congress, recognizing the importance of donor-advised funds in community foundations, have already signed on to legislation that could extend the IRA rollover to include donor-advised funds. Simply put, donor-advised funds remain one of the most popular, effective and democratic charitable giving vehicles donors can offer their communities."

In fact, more than 100 charitable golf events will be held this year, running roughly from March to October.

Possibly the most successful is the John Floyd and Ole South Properties Invitational Golf Tournament, which in the last eight years had netted its beneficiary, the Boys and Girls Club of Rutherford County, a whopping $800,000."

Bloggers Cast Doubt on Fox’s Generosity - New York Times: "Todd Cohen, the editor of the Philanthropy Journal, a Web publication based in Raleigh, N.C., was critical on his blog. “I was basically calling them to task over their challenge system to point out that they could do more,” he said in a telephone interview.

Several bloggers who follow “American Idol” echoed his view, complaining, among other things, that the show did not provide much detail upfront about how much the corporate sponsors were donating."

Mark Warner, the former governor of Virginia, on Sunday criticized foundations for their reluctance to collaborate on projects so they can have a national impact and urged them to drop their sometimes 'holier than thou' attitude toward working with politicians."

I don't have the time and the money to do something if someone else is doing it already. This is the philosophy of the nonprofit sector, said Stacey Rein, president of United Way of Ulster County. In her 13 years working with the agency, avoiding duplication of nonprofit services has always been important."

cantonrep.com: "NEW YORK (AP) — Workers in tax-exempt sectors such as government and education aren’t saving enough for a comfortable retirement, according to a study released Thursday by Fidelity Investments.

The study said more than 55 percent of the workers in these sectors have traditional pensions, or defined benefit plans. But more than half of participants in these plans worry that the benefits could be reduced or discontinued, the study said."

Corporate sponsorship is pretty common these days — walk around campus, tour an art museum, listen to NPR, and you’ll quickly encounter the name of some benefactor. But should Education Department meetings about the future of higher education have corporate sponsors"

Good intentions never fed anyone, provided a mosquito net, brought water to a village or fought a disease. Doing good in the world is a purposeful enterprise requiring skills, leadership and lots of money.

All will be celebrated and nurtured as the Council on Foundations holds its 58th annual conference today through Tuesday at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The event is co-sponsored by Philanthropy Northwest. Seattle is proud to welcome more than 2,000 representatives from philanthropic organizations around the world, the people who raise and distribute billions of dollars."